''Infelix ego'' ("Alas, wretch that I am") is a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

meditation on the ''Miserere'',

Psalm 51 Psalm 51, one of the penitential psalms, is the 51st psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Have mercy upon me, O God". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin V ...

(Psalm 50 in Septuagint numbering), composed in prison by

Girolamo Savonarola Girolamo Savonarola, OP (, ; ; 21 September 1452 – 23 May 1498), also referred to as Jerome Savonarola, was an ascetic Dominican friar from Ferrara and a preacher active in Renaissance Florence. He became known for his prophecies of civic ...

by 8 May 1498, after he was tortured on the rack, and two weeks before he was burned at the stake in the

Piazza della Signoria () is a w-shaped Town Square, square in front of the in Florence, Central Italy. It was named after the Palazzo della Signoria, also called . It is the main point of the origin and history of the Florentine Republic and still maintains its reput ...

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

on 23 May 1498. The prison authorities had spared only his right arm during the preliminary torture, so that Savonarola would be able to sign his confession: after doing so, and in a state of despair at not being strong enough to resist the pain of his prolonged torture, he wrote ''Infelix ego'' and a portion of a companion meditation, ''Tristitia obsedit me'', on Psalm 30. He was executed before he was able to complete ''Tristitia obsedit me''. Savonarola was devastated at his own personal weakness in allowing the physical torture to overcome his will. After signing the confession, recanting his beliefs, and even denying that his prophecies had been sent by God Himself, he felt the need to prostrate himself before his God and beg for forgiveness. Penitential Psalm 51 (50 in the

Septuagint The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...

numbering), the ''Miserere'', provided the inspiration for his long and impassioned cry for mercy, a document which was to become highly influential in the years before the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, especially in music history. On 23 May 1498, Savonarola and two other friars who were his supporters were led out of their cells to the public square beside the Palazzo della Signoria. After their crimes were read to them, they were hanged in chains, and then burned, with the ashes being hurled into the Arno so that no relics would be recoverable by the crowds of the fanatical reformer's former supporters. Almost immediately, however, Savonarola's two meditations were in print: Laurentius de Rubeis produced one of the first prints, in

Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...

, Savonarola's birthplace, a town which continued to venerate him well into the 16th century. ''Infelix ego'' begins, in translation:

Reception and influence

''Infelix ego'' and its incomplete companion work ''Tristitia obsedit me'' spread quickly throughout Europe after Savonarola's execution. Of all his writings they became the most famous, appearing in 15 editions in Italy by 1500, and being translated into most European languages during the 16th century.

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

was impressed by the pair of meditations, and wrote a preface to them in his 1523 publication of them in

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

. His enthusiastic reception of Savonarola's writings, including ''Infelix ego'', assisted in their suppression by the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. While ''Infelix ego'' was translated into Italian, French, German, Flemish, and Spanish, there were more editions of it in English than in any other language (21), all appearing between 1534 and 1578. Savonarola's psalm meditations were among the few works of his not to be placed on the ''

Index Librorum Prohibitorum The (English: ''Index of Forbidden Books'') was a changing list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former dicastery of the Roman Curia); Catholics were forbidden to print or re ...

'', the Church's list of banned books, by

Pope Paul IV Pope Paul IV (; ; 28 June 1476 – 18 August 1559), born Gian Pietro Carafa, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 May 1555 to his death, in August 1559. While serving as papal nuncio in Spain, he developed ...

in 1559, during the height of the

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...

. While the

Dominican order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

was successful in preventing ''all'' of Savonarola's works being placed on the ''Index'', the Church was able to shut down all printing of them in Italy after 1559, including ''Infelix ego.'' However, printing and translation of this work continued elsewhere in Europe. ''Infelix ego'' was widely set by musicians. At first, it was alluded to secretly, rather than being directly set to music.

Josquin des Prez Josquin Lebloitte dit des Prez ( – 27 August 1521) was a composer of High Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he was a central figure of the ...

's famous setting of the '' Miserere'', written in Ferrara around 1503-1504, is an example of this,Macey, p. 184-192. This section contains a close analysis showing the relationship between Savonarola's text and Josquin's music, even though Savonarola's words are absent from Josquin's setting. with its structure mirroring Savonarola's meditation, imitating its simplicity and phrasing, and including a refrain of "Miserere mei deus" after each verse, just as in Savonarola's meditation. Another composer who used a similar allusive technique was Lupus Hellinck, who wrote at least three compositions inspired by Savonarola, including two ''Miserere'' settings, both of which allude to the Josquin version, and one of which was itself used by French Protestant composer Claude Le Jeune for his own direct setting of Savonarola's other prison meditation, ''Tristitia obsedit me''.Macey, p.157. Some of the composers who set ''Infelix ego'' to music include

Adrian Willaert Adrian Willaert ( – 7 December 1562) was a Flemish composer of High Renaissance music. Mainly active in Italy, he was the founder of the Venetian School. He was one of the most representative members of the generation of northern composers ...

(he was the first to set it directly);

Cipriano de Rore Cipriano de Rore (occasionally Cypriano) (1515 or 1516 – between 11 and 20 September 1565) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active in Italy. Not only a central representative of the generation of Franco-Flemish composers after ...

;

Nicola Vicentino Nicola Vicentino (1511 – 1575 or 1576) was an Italian music theory, music theorist and composer of the Renaissance music, Renaissance. He was one of the most progressive musicians of the age, inventing, among other things, a microtonal keyb ...

; Simon Joly;

Orlande de Lassus Orlando di Lasso ( various other names; probably – 14 June 1594) was a composer of the late Renaissance. The chief representative of the mature polyphonic style in the Franco-Flemish school, Lassus stands with William Byrd, Giovanni Pierlui ...

, working in Munich; Lassus's student Jacob Reiner; and in England,

William Byrd William Byrd (; 4 July 1623) was an English Renaissance composer. Considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he had a profound influence on composers both from his native country and on the Continental Europe, Continent. He i ...

. Three further English composers, William Hunnis, William Mundy, and Thomas Ravenscroft set the meditation in its English translation by William Hunnis, "Ah helples wretch".

References

* Patrick Macey, ''Bonfire Songs: Savonarola's Musical Legacy.'' Oxford, Clarendon Press. 1998. * Girolamo Savonarola, ''Meditations on Psalm LI and Part of Psalm XXXI in Latin, with an English translation, ed. E. H. Perowne. London, 1900.''

Notes

{{reflist

External links

*Online text of ''Infelix ego''
LatinEnglish
(via

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). 15th-century books in Latin Prison writings Girolamo Savonarola